standing in the teeming, glitzy trading towers in bangkok’s jewelry district, you would be hard-pressed to imagine the industry’s modest beginnings or its current woes. over the past two decades, the industry rose from last to fourth place in importance among thailand’s industry groups. in 1992 alone, for example, jewelry exports grew 28% over the previous year.

jck makes key move into foreign markets; also plans new initiative for high-volume jewelers capital cities/abc inc., jck’s parent company, has acquired international diamond publications ltd. of ramat gan, israel. idp publishes five magazines in israel, japan and the u.s. and is about to launch a new one in russia.

roman retirement dinner to aid ja/pratt program jewelers of america will honor director emeritus michael d. roman for his service to the industry at a benefit dinner sunday, feb. 4. the event will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. in tavern on the green, central park west and 67 st., new york city. roman served as executive director of ja for 20 years until his retirement in september.

ups revisited a little over one year ago, you published a letter from a sandra wolfson from ohio, as i recall, who complained bitterly about service from united parcel service (ups). i responded by stating just the opposite, saying how good ups is and how much i loved using them. you printed my letter.

the year end and the season of goodwill to all are upon us. so it’s fitting, once again, to look back over the months since jan. 1 and recognize those who by moving up, moving on, moving out or other various newsworthy actions became part of the year’s headlines. to start on a high note, congratulations to two men who have contributed greatly to our business over the years &endash; lee berg…

the russians come to kansas “treasures of the czars” is on exhibit at the kansas international museum in topeka through dec. 31. the exhibit encompasses 12 galleries depicting two major periods of russian history and culture: the 17th century pre-petrine era of eastern orientation and the 18th to early 20th century petrine and post-petrine eras of western orientation.

three shows to feature antique & estate jewelry the international jewelers association has scheduled three antique shows for 1996: international jewelers association, 3150 danville blvd., suite b, alamo, cal. 94507; (510) 552-0452, fax (510) 552-6233. ja las vegas! announces education programs the new ja las vegas! jewelry show, scheduled for jan.

nationally known designers assess a startling new material intended to give them more freedom in creating jewelry mitsubishi materials corp. of japan has developed a remarkable new material that combines the forming ease of clay with the luster and permanence of precious metal. the material, called pmc or precious metal clay, was introduced to the u.

ja schedules 1996 regional conferences the jewelers of america center for business studies has scheduled five new regional education seminars for 1996. the conferences will be held jan. 10-12 in las vegas, nev.; march 1-3 in dearborn, mich.; march 29-31 in orlando, fla.; june 7-10 in newport, r.i.; and aug.

a capsule look at business, economic and demographic trends affecting the jewelry industry jewelry sales: the momentum builds jewelers have good reason to be cheery this holiday season. business has been good &endash; very good &endash; this year, according to the u.s. department of commerce.

timex sues, stops lookalike watch sales a federal judge has ordered m.z. berger & co. of long island city, n.y., to stop offering a watch that timex corp. of middlebury, conn., named in a design infringement lawsuit. timex sued berger, alleging that its wilson brand glowatch infringed on the design patents and trade dress of the timex expedition watch.

generosity extends beyond the christmas season for jewelers who give back to the areas that support their stores generosity and charity are alive and well in the jewelry industry. virtually all members of the jck retail jewelers panel said in a recent poll that they actively support charities. their generosity is not a choice, they feel, but a moral obligation and good business.

mjsa appoints new president james f. marquart, a veteran manager of state and national associations, is the new president and chief executive officer of the manufacturing jewelers and silversmiths of america. marquart succeeds matthew runci, who resigned earlier this year to become executive director of jewelers of america.

each issue of jck contains dozens of news stories. some are complete as written, with nothing further expected to occur. but most are ongoing. a law suit is filed; was it ever settled? a new line is to be launched; was it and how did it do? a new gem deposit is discovered; did the find live up to its initial promise? people prominent in the industry drop out of the limelight; where are they now…

k.c. jewelry co., a retail store, opened in chattanooga, tenn. ken smith, ron colebrooke and joseph lieberman started the business, which specializes in custom jewelry design and manufacture. king’s jewelry opened its 32nd store. the new store is in the southland mall in marion, ohio. king’s operates six other stores in ohio, 24 in pennsylvania and one in west virginia.

esti/frederica announces changes the esti/frederica collection of new york, n.y., announces the retirement of esti, one of the two founding partners, at the end of the year. frederica, who will assume total control, says the retirement will not change the company’s design direction; she has always been the designer and in charge of sales, while esti oversaw the financial and production aspect…

“jewelers vigilance committee inc. appraisal task force recommended minimum guidelines for insurance cost estimate documentation for jewelers,” ©1995 by the jewelers vigilance committee inc. foreword the jewelers vigilance committee (jvc) and its appraisal task force (atf) have developed these guidelines to address the needs of jewelers who want to provide their customers with insurance do…

we welcome idp to the jck family i am happy to report to you that, following some months of negotiations, international diamond publications based in ramat gan, israel, joined the jck jewelry family in late october. idp, headed by isaac arikha and his principal editor steve benson, is a fine publishing house with five magazines and two directories already in place and a sixth book, russian diam…

early spring forecast: sherbets, dots and ladies spring fashions previewed at the fashion coterie and the new york premier collections show a continuation of femininity and shape, with more classic suits and dresses reminiscent of ’40s, ’50s and ’60s ladies. most prevalent colors were sherbet shades of orange, lemon-lime, pale lavender, pink and blue.

thanks to advances in technology, we jewelers are now able to offer increasingly beautiful-appearing gems. myriad treatments make some of the most ordinary-looking stones appear special to the naive consumer. to ensure our customers are not taken advantage of, however, stringent laws require us to disclose these treatments.

’95 could be record year for de beers this could be a record year for rough diamond sales by de beers’ central selling organisation, say stock analysts in johannesburg, southafrica, home of de beers. responding to a 7.7% jump in the company’s stock price in early october, the analysts said rough sales should top $4.

mineral origins minerals, by george w. robinson. 1994. 208 pages. 140 color illustrations. $40. (jck data center ch-006) to order, call (800) 223-2336. the author, curator of minerals at the canadian museum of nature in ottawa, has written a novel mineral book. rather than identify a few hundred mineral species, he gives readers a background into what mineralogy is all about.